Need an easy way to quickly roast some chicken? You’ve come to the right place. This flavorful recipe is easily whipped up in about 30 -40 minutes and requires very little equipment – just a baking dish, some parchment paper, and a hot oven. Here’s an easy spring chicken recipe for all the TT and Encore spring chickens out there.
Ingredients:
1 Lemon (for zesting and for slicing)
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (if cooking with whole chicken, be sure to use a thermometer for most accurate and safest cooking temperatures)
4-5 sprigs thyme
4-5 sprigs rosemary
4-5 sprigs of sage leaves
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 head of garlic
Salt and pepper
Equipment:
Parchment paper
Baking dish
Cooking thermometer
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 450°
- Use the butter to grease your baking dish. Be generous! This will also help the chicken breasts not to stick to the dish.
- Use a paper towel to pat the chicken breasts dry on both sides. Then use your second tablespoon to butter up the chicken breasts on both sides. Season the buttered chicken breasts with salt and pepper. If your butter is salted, just add pepper.
- Lay the seasoned chicken breasts in the baking dish.
- Use a microplane or very fine grater to zest the lemon over the chicken breasts. TIP: When zesting, make sure to only zest the yellow part of the pith. If you go too far down the pith to the white, your zest will taste very bitter and so will your chicken!
- Cut the lemon into thin slices. Add these on top, underneath, and wedged between the chicken breasts.
- Pull off some cloves from your head of garlic. Crush the cloves by removing the root of the clove, setting it down on the cutting board, and placing the flat side of the knife right on the clove. Use the palm of your hand to press the flat side of the knife against the clove and the clove will crush underneath your weight. You should also be able to remove the outer skin layer of the clove at this point. Repeat this step for about 5-6 cloves.
- If cloves seem particularly large, cut them in half after crushing. Spread them around on the baking dish like you did with the lemons – on top and underneath and wedged in between the chicken breasts.
- Remove thyme leaves from their stems, as well as rosemary and sage, and spread generously all around, underneath, and wedged in between chicken breasts.
- Take parchment paper and cover chicken breasts, tucking it a bit underneath on the sides of the baking dish so that chicken breasts are snug.
- Place baking dish in preheated oven for 20 minutes. At this point, check the temperature of the thickest part of the chicken breasts. Chicken must reach 165°degrees in the fleshiest or thickets part of the breast to be considered cooked through and safe to eat!
- Serve with wild rice and greens of your choice. Grilled asparagus, string beans, or sauteed kale are great side dishes for this spring chicken recipe.
What is your favorite spring chicken recipe? Tell us about it in the comments!
Posted in: Cooking On The Go Tagged: garlic, lemon chicken, sage rosemary thyme, spring chicken recipe
